Paris! – Part I

While we spent 10 nights in the Paris area, at this point we’ve been here almost a week and spent very little time seeing the sights of Paris herself. The next four days were spent enjoying a taste of the beauty that Paris has to offer. We started off at the Palais Garnier, which is a stunning venue built for the Paris Opera, and opened in 1875. It was the home of the Paris Opera until 1989, when the Opera Bastille opened. Since that time, Opera is primarily performed at the Bastille, while the Garnier is primarily Ballet performances. The picture above is the Grand Foyer.

From there we moved on to lunch, at a lovely restaurant nearby, Le Souffle. I had heard about it on a Paris Visitors Facebook group, and wanted to give it a try. I’m glad we did. I’ve only had soufflé a couple of times, and this was Carey’s introduction. If you haven’t yet had soufflé, it can appear to be pretty big, but it is mostly whisked egg whites, so is very light and fluffy. We had a full meal:

• Soupe à l’oignon gratinée – French Onion Soup (One restaurant we tried in Cannes had a soupe à l’oignon that was completely different, the base was not as rich, and the bread and cheese were served separately. Consider yourself warned). This one was perfection.
• Salade verte de saison – A green salad that was extremely simple yet delicious – Just greens, a few bits of tomato, lightly dressed.
• Soufflé fromage – Carey ordered an appetizer that was a small bowl of the soup, a small salad, and a small cheese soufflé. She was in heaven. My appetizer was just a larger green salad, and I was very happy with it, but was glad that she gave me a taste of her soup and soufflé.
• Soufflé bœuf bourguignon – A basic cheese soufflé is presented to you, and the waiter breaks into it and pours in some delicious beef bourguignon. Carey ordered this and was extremely happy.
• Soufflé Provencal, with goat cheese and an olive tapenade. I ordered this and loved it.
• Soufflé chocolat & sa sauce chocolat – Chocolate soufflé served with warm chocolate sauce poured in, and more on the side.
• A lovely bottle of Sancerre with our lunch. Carey may have had a digestif after her meal.

After lunch, we walked over to the Musée de l’Orangerie, a lovely museum of impressionist and post-impressionist art, and is home to eight large (huge) Water Lilies murals by Monet. The museum also has some lovely works by Cezanne, Matisse, Renoir, and others.